The umbilical cord is a rope-like structure which connects the fetus (unborn child) to the placenta. The cord contains two arteries and one vein. The arteries carry blood containing waste products from the fetus to the placenta. The vein carries blood containing oxygen and food substances obtained from the Mother's blood back to the fetus.
At the present time, the procedure followed by many obstetricans following the delivery of the baby, is to clamp two separate hemostats on the umbilical cord at spaced positions and use a pair of scissors to sever the umbilical cord. Subsequently an umbilical cord clamp is manually applied to the umbilical cord adjacent the baby's navel and a second cutting of the redundant portion of the umbilical cord between the umbilical cord clamp and the hemostat is performed.
In recent years various umbilical cord clamping assemblies have been designed to improve and speed up the process of severing the umbilical cord and properly clamping it. An early example of such an instrument is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 3,150,666 of Averbach. His instrument is used to clamp one end of umbilical and then apply an elastic band around the umbilical. Another instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,071 of Mayer and he provides structure for simultaneously applying two spaced umbilical cord clamps and severing the umbilical cord therebetween. A third example of a clamping and cutting surgical instrument is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,026,294 which requires the two umbilical clamps to be applied to the umbilical following which the umbilical cord is severed. The prior art surgical instruments for clamping and severing an umbilical cord have not gained widespread acceptance for various reasons. This is unfortunate, because some of the precious seconds wasted by present procedures for severing and clamping the umbilical cord may be the difference between a routine period or one complicated by serious lung problems.
It is an object of the invention to provide a novel surgical instrument for clamping and severing an umbilical cord whose parts are easily manufactured and assembled.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a novel surgical instrument for clamping and severing an umbilical cord that will simplify and speed up the operation.
It is another object of the invention to provide a novel surgical instrument for clamping and severing an umbilical cord that performs the operation of applying only a single umbilical cord clamp while severing the umbilical cord and which maintains a hemostat on the maternal end of the umbilical cord.
It is a further object of the invention to provide a novel surgical instrument for clamping and severing an umbilical cord that allows its closed umbilical cord clamp to be removed from the instrument without the necessity of opening its clamping jaws.
It is an additional object of the invention to provide a novel surgical instrument of clamping and severing an umbilical cord that has a single use disposable blade assembly.